Underwater with a trolley ‘on me ed’

The title should be spoken in a broad Liverpudlian accent.

I expect that got your attention, hot runners up for the title were:
a) Marinas – 2, Paul’s body – 0
b) Time to look for a quiet office Job
c) Just how difficult can you make ‘getting the shopping home’

We went shopping on Monday, a big shop, as we were leaving Tuesday morning, and would be away, mostly at anchor for 4 weeks. I also picked up the new mainsail and the repaired old sails, ropes, chandlery, tools etc. Quite a load and by the time we got back to the marina it was dark and we had three trolley loads of stuff to get onboard. ( I expect you have guessed the rest by now..)
The tide was out and as it’s spring tides now, the ramp down to the pontoons was very steep, in fact too steep for me to get a trolley down in the normal way, so I went down backwards, so I was pushing the trolley back up the ramp as it was trying to race down. This way I had more control.

The first trolley came down, and at the bottom we took it off to the boat where Kathy and I unloaded, Kathy started stowing the food and kit while I took the trolley back to the car for the second load, it was hard work pushing the empty trolley up the ramp, they are big substantial steel things.That went fine and it was as I reached the bottom on the way back with the full trolley that I tried to do a 3 point turn, and was going a bit fast, I hadn’t remembered or noticed that the pontoon narrows at that point, just behind me so I stepped back into nothingness, yet again!! This time I wasn’t so lucky.
As I hit the water, I realised straight away what I had done, I have form in this area 😉 , what surprised me though was the trolley decided to join me and tipped upside down, smashed me on the head and then pushed me underwater. I tried to swim up for air, but my head hit something hard, and I couldn’t go up, I quickly realised what had happened, the trolley was on my head, and I was inside the trolley cage/frame, so I pushed away and down, swam back a bit and resurfaced, only to find myself still under the trolley. Not so good I thought.
Actually, the next bit was my favourite part, because this scenario is one of the nightmares I used to have about being trapped underwater, and here I was, yet I didn’t feel the slightest bit of panic, I thought, the trolley’s not that big, it’s going to be simple to find the end and get out, which is what I did, another push down and sideways and I surfaced. I must say, that gulp of air I took was lovely. A quick pat on my pocket showed me that I need a new iPhone, and looking around me bags of shopping were floating away. The upturned trolley was floating, it had a buoyancy box underneath it, and lots of bags of shopping were trapped inside. It was dark, so I couldn’t see everything, but I spotted the repaired rolled up Genoa just below the surface next to me, but sinking fast. I grabbed it with one hand and held onto the pontoon with the other. At this point I wasn’t too bothered as it was just material stuff at risk, but I wasn’t going to let it get away easy, being the stingy person I am. I called out for help a few times, hoping the security guard at the pontoon gate would hear me, but no response.
There was a RIB close by, so I swam over to that dragging the genoa through the water, there was enough slack on his painter (tying up rope) for me to pull the end into the water and tie it to the genoa, this is where the ability to do a decent knot with one hand comes in useful, although in retrospect, staying on the pontoon would probably be a better skill I should work on.
I swam back to the trolley, and rested a few seconds, then I got my iPhone out of my pocket and threw it onto the pontoon, not sure why, but it seemed the most respectful thing to do, perhaps, just maybe there was a chance… Really I knew it was over, still it had had a good run. Next my money belt, which had a very soggy passport and a few Baht in it, these dry well, based on past experience 🙂 I then started getting bags ashore that were trying to escape. Finally I thought I need help with the rest so I climbed out and ran back to the boat shouting at Kathy to come quickly. I didn’t tell her why, as I ran right back to the scene, I was worried some passers by would stumble across the submerged trolley and shopping and think perhaps the owner was in the water. As it turns out, just as I turned the corner back towards the ramp, I spotted a family staring into the water. By fluke, it was Jack, Jackie and their son, on their way to dinner. We had made friends with Jack during our time here and he had been very helpful with information about the area. I explained it was my mess and asked for help getting the trolley and sail out, but Jack insisted on inspecting my head, I told him I was OK, but unlike him, I hadn’t noticed all the blood I was covered in. Jack found a hose and washed my head for me, pronouncing that I had a big gash and stitches would be needed. Bugger I thought, it didn’t feel that bad at all. Kathy then arrived, and I think was very shocked at the turn of events. I unpacked some kitchen roll from one of the recovered shopping bags, packaging is so good these days, and made a compress on my head, then I jumped back into the water and pushed the trolley up as Jack & co pulled from the pontoon, next I passed up a few remaining floating bags and we all worked to get the Genoa ashore.
Kathy took care of the trolley while Jack ferried me out to an anchored boat in his dinghy, just a few minutes away, where his friend, who is a nurse lives. Sadly she wasn’t there. Once back ashore, I sent Jack & co on their way and went back to the boat to get cleaned up.
Kathy helped me tie a bandage over the wound, I put some dry clothes on, then we drove down to the local hospital to get the wound looked at.
The Bangkok Hospital, Thalong branch is just great, they had me fixed up without any delay, 7 stitches were needed, along with a tetanus jab and a course of antibiotics. they made me stay for an hour while they monitored my blood pressure, which was a bit high for their liking, but came down over the hour. They charged about £50 for all of that, including a weeks supply of medicine.
We drove back to the boat, finished unloading the car, the ramp was a more gentle slope by now, and decided to have an early night and put the shopping away in the morning.

Two days later
My head is a bit sore now, as you might expect, but I don’t seem to have any other injuries, (self esteem took the biggest hit), most of the shopping survived, I lost about £100 worth of chandlery, and £50 of groceries, we will replace these when I go back to have the stitches removed next week.
I’m going to have to re-assess my risk taking stance, Marinas are dangerous places, I was very fortunate that this happened at slack water when there was no tide, 2 hours earlier or later I would have been swept under the pontoon, or out into the bay. I’m worried that it might be an age thing, Kathy and I think it more likely that I have too much of a ‘Gung Ho’ attitude to risk, it’s a tough one, I am much more careful/risk averse  at sea. Falling off a pontoon, is not something that really rated as such a dangerous thing in my mind before, as kids we loved jumping off them, so perhaps I didn’t take enough care, however this incident has shown me how wrong I was.

I’m taking it easy this week, and hoping we can pick up where we left off next Tuesday, just a week delayed.

On a more positive front, I have started buying fruit & veg I don’t recognise, for example this thing here revealed no clues in its name as to what it might be, until I cut it open and found it to be a sweet grapefruit.
I bought a load of Passion fruits as well, as they taste great in drinks but I have never tried eating one before.

And finally, recent events in America have persuaded me that I won’t be taking the boat there this year. The final decider was that one of Mr Trump’s executive orders removes all my privacy rights as a foreigner, and allows any US official to have the same powers as border guards to investigate/interrogate/detain? me. I hope things change and we are able to visit one day, as nearly all the Americans I know are wonderful good people, and I’d love to meet up with them at some point.

Paul Collister